I cannot cry

I cannot cry

Something has happened to me
I cannot cry
Locusts have come from the east
Locusts have come from the west
The day is dark with their wings
And the farm is dead

The bones of the shepherd is left on the rock
His cleft is dead with the sheep in the field
Oji-egbe who lives by the river
Is back from his wandering
He has exchanged his oars for rifles
And now marks his homestead with gunpowder
He answers our greetings with gunfire
We cannot tiptoe to the water

We shall die from the hunger
Or perish in the hail of bullets
We who only wish to greet the sun
And the neighbors bearing gifts
We shall die of hate
Or perish with fear
Fear of the gifts that now bear death
From our neighbor back from his wandering

Shall we now scratch our backs
On the rhubarb bark
Shall we hide a bomb
Gift wrapped in our bosoms
Should we bury Oji-egbe
In the evil forest?
Far from the wailing in our homestead
Far from the ancestral grove, now desolate
He is our brother, so we thought
He is our neighbor, so we thought.

Something has happened to me
I cannot cry
The village square is inlaid with thorns
I cannot dance
The song is set to gun fire
I cannot sing.


( for Kofi and all those that died in the Nairobi Westgate mall terrorist attack )



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